I wanted to check in with everyone and let you know there has been no noticeable change in our natural gas consumption since installing our Y602 Bakers Pride ovens and kicking out the Blodgett 981. We went from 50,000 BTU oven to (2) 120,000 decks. We only run one most nights . . . kick the second on for Fridays. We even leave the main oven on lowest setting overnight to facilitate pre-heating. No jump in gas costs.
I predict it is because that 981 would have to run its burners a LOT to keep up with production. Once the Bakers Pride gets hot, it uses far less gas to keep it that way given its more efficient burners and greater thermal mass . . . . less catastrophic heat loss when opening the oven door or putting a pizza on the stone deck.
Plus the store heating bills are less since Y600 heats a 50+ foot radius
I did the same thing 3 years ago but I switched to 802’s. I didn’t shut the oven off for 2+ years. I just started shutting the oven off & not running my 2nd oven on thurs & sundays. I couldn’t do that with my blogett it would take till 2:00 to heat up.I know people will say it uses more gas to heat up the oven, but my gas bill went down up $300. My gas bill was running around $1600.00. It takes just over an hour to get to temp. Give it a try, if you go in early to prep for lunch. What
I wonder if brick ceiling and/or brick floor would help with heat recovery, etc. I think there is actually an option for thicker floor and also for a lined ceiling now that I’m looking.
I am curious if you could tell me toughly how hot the outside of the oven gets? Like for example the the top above the deck?
Hi Nick and the rest of contributors to this discussion;
Nick has the correct read on gas consumption . It is always best to use equipment sized for or a tad over sized for the job. You will get the best production at a lower cost than running an under sized unit flat out most of the time.
Again there are several comments about oven temperatures. Running any oven without direct reading thermometers is like driving a car without a speedometer.
As stated before,(and Nick notes), that thingey on your deck ovens called a thermostat is merely a wish-o-stat. You just wish your oven is baking at that temperature.
A grill thermometer that can directly read the temperature of the deck is available from almost any restaurant supply company for about $20.00 ask for a Cooper model 3210-08. Pelooze has some lower priced models but I would buy the Cooper.
You may be surprised by what your deck temperature really is during a busy evening.
Outside of oven temp isn’t something I have measured. I know that the radiant heat is harsh right now in summer. Sides and front get hot enough to be uncomfortable. Top is either covered by the top oven, or too high to put my hand on. I suspect I get some heat up there as well.
I don’t like the idea of trying re-engineer the oven to make a brick ceiling. The stones slabs I have (actually Fibrament) are sized for the oven and fit to the framing. 2" or 3" stones would certainly hold more heat, but I don’t know what they would do for my oven overall performance. I know they would be a HUGE expense to retrofit.
You can set that thermostat at 650F, and it will be for the 1st few pies. After that, you are going to fight to keep that temp up. You’ll fight harder the busier you are in an hour. There are ways to minimize the heat loss and recovery lag . . . . but you will always have them.
Interesting. I feel like a deck oven should be warm (NOT HOT) to the touch on the outside. If its not then its not being insulated well enough, in my opinion. Hence, losing heat, productivity and money all around. Unless there is some reason anyone would want it to be hot on the outside (like keeping pies warm).
I would be really interested to see measured temperatures of sides/top on various ovens when the oven temperature is say 500F and has been that way for several hours.
I know there’s a few ovens out there that tout amazing insulation, too.
[quote=“pjcampbell”]
Interesting. I feel like a deck oven should be warm (NOT HOT) to the touch on the outside. If its not then its not being insulated well enough, in my opinion. Hence, losing heat, productivity and money all around. Unless there is some reason anyone would want it to be hot on the outside (like keeping pies warm).
Hi PJ & others : We have available a system that attaches by magnets to the outside of deck ovens and provides additional insulation and reduces burns by contact.
I just wanted to verify that your gas company did indeed read your meter. I know here they “estimate” our meters 3 times a year or something to save money on actually reading the meters. They base the bill off of averages of previous history.
